


Once Upon a Time Piece

by Mightyno19



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Based on Doodledrawsthings Dadcher content, Other, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23836597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mightyno19/pseuds/Mightyno19
Summary: Who's to say what'll happen when a time piece breaks. Sometimes time rewinds by seconds, sometimes by years. Who knows what'll happen when two alien children travel back in time to witness Subcon's history.Inspired by art and headcanons by doodledrawsthings on Tumblr.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 278





	Once Upon a Time Piece

The rain had not let up in days. Some began to wonder if, much like them, nature was in mourning. Their queen had passed away quite suddenly and the kingdom suffered greatly. Some wept, others consoled, but one locked herself away in the somber solitude of her bedroom.

“Your highness?” A guard knocked, the door was cool to the touch.

No response.

“Please, if there’s anything we could do.....”

Nothing.

“At least give us-“

Before he could finish his request a faint voice spoke, “I’m _**fine**_ , leave me be.”

He felt a chill down his spine, it was something in her voice. Sadness? Pain? Grief? Princess Vanessa hasn’t been seen in the days following her mother’s passing and the entire manor had been in a state of panic trying to coax her out. She didn’t respond to anyone, this may have been the first time anyone’s heard anything from her in some time. Some had feared the worst.

“Very well your highness, if you need anything please let us know.”

Once again a very faint voice breached the bedroom door, “Thank You.”

Vanessa heard the guards heavy footsteps fade and she returned her focus to her writing desk. Pages upon pages mercilessly torn from her diary now littered the tabletop. Vanessa usually found comfort in expressing her feelings through her writings but this was hard to put to words. Her jumbled scrawls stared back, mocking her. She swept them off the table and slammed her hands.

“Why.......Why did you leave.....?” She began to think. “WHY WOULD YOU BE SO SELFISH AS TO LEAVE ME HERE?!”

Indeed her mother’s death had stirred something in Vanessa. She shed no tears, she felt no sadness. No, Vanessa felt.... cold.

“Did you not stop to think about what would happen?! I can’t be a princess anymore..... if I’m not a princess then he’ll-”

“VANESSA!!!!”

Her horrific thought was cut off by his heavenly voice and the sound of his heroic footsteps dashing down the hall outside. Vanessa didn’t even have a chance to unlock the door, he burst through, soaking wet, covered head to toe in mud.

“My.....prince....”

“Vanessa!” He immediately trapped Vanessa in a loving, warm embrace, “I came as soon as I heard... I’m so sorry.”

“I’m...I....you........” She finally broke down and sobbed into his shoulder. “I missed you so much...”

The prince let the quiet of the room set in and simply allowed Vanessa to cry. In their silent bliss, the prince’s attention was caught by the torn paper on the floor. Written in red ink, some began as normal text but soon transformed into scribbles and unintelligible ramblings. If paper were to bleed, this is exactly what it would look like.

When the time felt right he pushed Vanessa away and held on to her hands, their finger locking onto each other, “Vanessa, look me in the eyes.”

Vanessa wiped away her remaining tears in an attempt to look presentable. He smiled affectionately, “Vanessa, I promise you, I will do everything in my power to help you get through this before I leave-”

“You’re... leaving?”

He hesitated to answer her. He quickly glanced back to the bleeding pages. He needs to choose his next words very carefully. “Not now. You need me here. But I can’t stay forever, not yet anyway.”

Vanessa lowered her head, shadows completely hid her eyes, but it was apparent she allowed herself to cry again, droplets freezing to ice before hitting the floor. Before he could do anything the door burst open once again.

“YOUR HIGHNESS!!” The entire manor’s staff looked in with concern on their faces.

The guard that led the crowd spoke up, “My apologies, we didn’t mean to interrupt.”

The prince smiled his famous smile, “You're not intruding at all. In fact,” He looked back at Vanessa, still in tears, “I need someone to send a message to the university. I will be taking a leave from my studies until the kingdom is back on its feet and Vanessa’s crowned queen.”

Queen...... he said it. Vanessa was so lost in thought she didn’t notice her grip on her prince’s hands had tightened.

“Ven.”

Tighter.

“Vanessa...”

**Can’t lose him.**

“ **Vanessa!** ”

Her return to reality was greeted with his lovely sincere smile, “Can you loosen your grip please?”

“Oh!” She quickly let go. “I’m so sorry, I was just thinking about....”

Her thought was finished for her, “Being queen?”

Her prince rubbed his poor sore hands before placing one on her shoulder, exposing the nail marks on his knuckles, “I know that becoming queen, being responsible for everyone’s wellbeing, it’s a large task and has the potential to be incredibly overwhelming. But I have the utmost confidence that you’re going to be a great ruler.”

Vanessa nodded solemnly, “When that happens.... will you still-“

The price lifted her head, their eyes met once again. “I will always love you, I will always be by your side, you will always be my princess.”

Vanessa’s smile matched his. She pulled him in for one more embrace.

That’s **exactly** what she wanted to hear.  
——————————————

Snatcher woke up, not with a start, but with a yawn. He had forgotten how drowsy it felt when first waking up in the morning. Being a spirit, Snatcher had no real need for sleep and he avoided it for several reasons. Can’t exactly torture any trespassers if he’s asleep, at least that’s what he tells himself. No, the real reason was because of her. She always seemed to find her way into his thoughts while he slept.

Wait.... why was he asleep to begin with?

As his eyes adjusted to the light of the room, he immediately knew, this wasn’t his comfy chair in Subcon. When attempting to get up he felt an odd weight keeping him  
from doing so.

“Oh, now I remember.” He looks down to see two space kiddos pleasantly sleeping on his lap.

He had invited himself aboard their ship to engage them in some death wish contracts and the last contract was so draining they collapsed the second they returned.

“Ha, didn’t even have the strength to make it to the bed.”

He expected these contracts to kill them, hence death wish, but once again these tikes surprised him. They had been such a challenge to get rid of but, maybe getting rid  
of them isn’t the goal anymore.

Except right now. These children need to get off him right now.

“Psst kiddos,” He lightly nudged Bow and shook Hat, “Time to get up!”

Hardly inconvenienced by his desperate attempts, Hat and Bow continued their well-deserved rest. This wouldn’t have bothered Snatcher too much if he didn’t notice Hat holding back a cocky grin.

“Well,” Snatcher through, “I tried this the nice way, but I’ve been one to do things the fun way.”

Ahem.

“GOOOOOOOOOD MOOOORNING!”

Hat groaned, already half awake but Snatcher’s shout ruined any chances of falling back asleep. She reached for a pillow in the fort bellow to cover her ears, maybe even throw one in Snatcher’s face. Unexpectedly, instead of a pillow, she pulled out Bow Kid. Poor Bow was startled awake and, before she could process what was happening, fell in the pillows.

Snatcher’s maniacal laughter filled the room, their misery was too funny not to laugh at. “AHAHAHAHAHA! YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACES RIGHT NOW! PRICELESS!”

The two were not amused, Hat helped Bow up on the walkway, “You know,” Bow began, “That wasn’t very nice.”

Snatcher stopped laughing and eyed Bow, a silence befell them.

“Nice? NICE?! HA!”

Snatcher didn’t hold back, “I take your soul, force you to do all my dirty work, ATTEMPT TO KILL YOU, but no. DISTURBING YOUR BEAUTY SLEEP IS WHERE WE CROSS THE LINE! AHAHAHA!”

Bow had no good response, at least not at the top of her head. Yeah, in that context her complaint sounded kinda dumb. But ever since the whole Mustache incident he’d been....nicer? That thought was briefly interrupted by the memory of his taunts echoing in her head during the previous night’s death wish. Well, maybe nicer isn’t the right word. Whatever the word was, they’d been hanging out more often and not trying to kill each other. Did that mean anything to him?

“Psst, Bow.” Hat kid nudged Bow and tossed her an extra big pillow as she gestured towards Snatcher, still laughing. Her cheeky grin said it all.

“HAHAHA- _ack!_ ”

Snatcher caught the pillow in his mouth inadvertently breathing in the feathers it was stuffed with. Bow and Hat heard him mumble... something, the pillow muffled his angry shouts. Whatever he was saying, it wasn’t anything pleasant. Probably for the best they couldn’t understand him.

Hat and Bow screamed, “BULLSEYE!” Not wanting to stop the fun they dove into the pillow pile and aimed, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Snatcher ripped the pillow out of his mouth, coughing up the remain feathers, “Now see her-HEY!” Once again he was bombarded by pillows and cushions and the damn feathers they were stuffed with.

“ENOUGH!” He genuinely caught Hat and Bow off guard, they dropped their pillows. His tone, his anger reminding them of-

“That does it-“ Snatcher picked up a pillow that laid at his... feet? Foot? Tail? Whatever, he picked up a pillow from the floor, and smiled his famous smile, “Time to die!”

The pillow hit Hat Kid full force, sending her to the bottom of the pile. Bow Kid armed herself with the biggest pillow she could find. This means war, “PILLOW WAR!!”  
Bow tried her hardest, throwing as many pillows as she could to make up for Hat’s absence, “Geez kid, you gonna run out anytime soon?”

“Ha nope!” Hat shouted as she resurfaced, “I specifically designed this to be a never-ending pillow fort!”

He may not have the numbers but Snatcher sure as hell had power. He caught a few of the pillows thrown at him and lobbed them at the gremlins with so much power he kinda set them on fire? Like dramatic effect fire, not actual real fire. Don’t set pillows on fire kids. He landed a headshot on Bow and maybe on Hat? Snatcher couldn’t tell if he hit her or if she ducked for cover. The point is that they were lost in the sea of apparently never-ending pillows.

“HA! I Win!” He mockingly pointed at the pile but noticed something off.

_His hand._

“W-wait did I always have five fingers?” His gaze went down his hand and up to his arm, “Is this a sleeve!?”

Panicked, he looked for a mirror or anything with a decent reflection. He didn’t need to look far. While it wasn’t an exact reflection, he noticed a shadow cast on the mountain beneath him. It was his shadow, but it wasn’t him, not the him he’d been a minute ago. This shadow wasn’t a spirit, he had legs and arms and clothes.

“N-no, this isn’t possible,” He put his hand to his head, feeling hair, “What’s going on!?”

This couldn’t be “him” again. He abandoned that persona in that cold cellar ages ago. Why now of all times? Why here of all places? The kiddos couldn’t see him like this, he couldn’t chance it.

But now that he thought about it, “The kiddos have been gone for quite a bit now.”

Was all this still part of his dream? Is this a hallucination? Where the peck are the kids?

Snatcher got on his knees that he now has and leaned over the pile, “Uh... kiddos? You still there? No need to come out now, in fact, you guys stay there and I’ll be taking my-“ Mid-sentence a hand reached out from beneath and pulled him down.

Whoever grabbed him, they dragged him deep in this cushioned abyss. It was dark but soft. He could hear the muffled giggles of Hat and Bow around him, but could barely see anything. Snatcher knew he could get out easily, it’s just a bunch of pillows after all. But then what? They‘d be sure to see him, ask questions, be a general nuisance in this moment of crisis. Snatcher isn’t even sure he’s ready to face on his own, let alone on an alien spaceship with the alien gremlins that run it. Fortunately, they still thought this was a game, so he’ll just play along. Snatcher resigned himself to his fate of living in this endless void of pillows.

“There are worse ways to spend eternity.” Then there was another tug, someone grabbed his arm.

“Ok you’ve been in there long enough, Bow help me here.” Another hand grabbed his arm. He felt the two attempt to pull him up.

Snatcher tried to resist their efforts, but the pillows made it hard to keep a strong grip. “A-Actually you two can go off, maybe start another death wish and I’ll stay here and leave of my own accord, later, when you’re gone.”

They continue pulling him up, showing no sign of stopping, “I thought we couldn’t start a death wish contract without your seal of approval.”

“Peck!” He completely forgot about that, “Think of something you idiot!”

“Of course, you can get my seal **after** you’re done, I promise, now leave me alone!”

For a moment, he felt the grip on his arms loosen and one of them, he still couldn’t tell who, ask innocently, “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

.

..

...

“Pfft, I’m not falling for that. No way you’d miss a chance to see us suffer.” That was definitely Hat Kid.

“Kid, Please! Just leave me be!”

It was too late, he felt himself breach the surface of the stupid pecking pillows. He closed his eyes, trying to latch on to any hope of avoiding the inevitable. He couldn’t face them, he could face himself, not like this. There was, for a moment, blissful silence.

Bow, confused, broke the silence, “Uh, Snatcher?”

“I’m not ready...” He thought.

He hated this feeling of anticipation. It frustrated him that he felt so pecking vulnerable. JUST PECKING SAY IT AND GET IT OVER WITH!

“Dude,” Hat called, “What are you doing?”

What? Snatcher opened an eye to get a peek at the situation. Hat and Bow, now standing where the pillows end, were staring at him, confused. He caught a glimpse of his hand.

Two fingers.

“Uh....” Snatcher had no words.

“Game’s over,” Hat commented.

“See!” Bow presented her hands, “Were unarmed.”

Hat started to chuckle, “What? Were you scared two little girls were gonna pelt you with more pillows?”

“What!?” Snatcher regained his composure, at least enough to engage Hat Kid, “Of course not! I will never be scared of two little girls pelting me with pillows!”

“Oh yeah,” Hat stepped forward with her cocky smirk, challenging Snatcher, “Then what was all of that back there. Seemed to me you were pretty scared of an ambush.”

“ **That** had nothing to do with you two.“ Snatcher towered over Hat Kid, but it didn’t stop her.

“Um, guys...?”

“Ok then. What **was** that about?”

“It is none of your business.”

“Actually, it’s my ship, so I think should know the business happening on my ship.”

“GUYS!”

Bow finally caught their attention. Now standing at the bedroom door, she asked, “Do you smell something, weird?”

“Hey, yeah,” Hat sniffed the air, “smells like something’s **burning!** ”

Snatcher could smell it too, although, it’s not the kind of burning smell he was used to in Subcon. He couldn’t put his finger on it but, it was a nostalgic kind of scent. It didn’t smell like a bad kind of burning. He could tell it wasn’t caused by any sort of malfunction on the ship. Of course, the girls didn’t know that. The concern and panic on their faces made that clear. He found it amusing actually.

Bow, for her part, seemed to be keeping a cooler head than Hat, “Where do you think it’s coming from?”

“I don’t know! I looked at all the ship’s systems just the other day! Everything should be working just fine!”

“Let’s not go crazy, there has to be some sort of explanation.”

“Y-you’re right,” Hat was stressed out of her mind, “What if Mustache broke into the ship again?! If she damaged anything, I WILL PECKING DESTRO-“

“Ahem.”

Snatcher positioned himself between Hat and Bow, “As much as I love seeing fear scare away the cocky grin off your face, I have to ask: couldn't this be coming from your kitchen? Do you have a kitchen?” 

That was mostly a hunch on Snatcher's part, but a good one none the less. Hat and Bow took a moment to think. Yes they have a kitchen, and yes once in a while they’ve burnt food in there, but this smell is unlike anything they’ve dealt with on-

_Oh_

The duo looked at each other in the eye, they came to the same conclusion, “Cooking cat!”

“Excuse me, cooking what?” Of course, ignoring his question, Hat and Bow ran out the room, presumably to the kitchen.

And with that, Snatcher was alone. At least the burning cat thing distracted the kids from his episode. He couldn’t help but stare at his shadow, half expecting it to shift to his former self. It didn’t. That was good, right? Everything is fine now, right? It seems so, but Snatcher couldn't help but wonder, why? He hadn’t retained that form since, well, he didn’t even want to think back to those days. Now he spent, what, a few hours on this ship with these children and he changes involuntarily? It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Snatcher let out a deep melancholy sigh, looking down at his hand, “What are these children doing to me?”

He decided staying in this room alone wouldn’t do any good for him mentally. Besides, he hasn’t seen the rest of the ship, might as well check it out. It’s better than feeling sorry for himself. He slipped through the door, down the corridor, to the main deck of the ship.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Once Upon a Time Piece! So excited to finally get around to posting the first episode. For those here who are fans of doodledrawthings A Hat in Time content, thank you so much for taking the time to read the story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I haven't really written a fic in years so any critique would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Check out doodledrawsthings on Tumblr for awesome Hat in Time content
> 
> and check out my blog, Mightyno19 on Tumblr, for updates


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